Library in Transition

This is an in-depth study conducted by the Library of Congress over a period of years to discover and address the issues raised by conversion to digital media. Interestingly, this study is published as an e-book that is freely readable on the web, but must be purchased for download. I just tagged this with each of the main headers because there are chapters in this book that discuss all aspects of our project.

This is the ICOLC Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information. The statement says, "Preferred Pricing Practices - Reaffirmed A. Non-disclosure language should not be required for any licensing agreement, particularly language that would preclude library consortia from sharing pricing and other significant terms and conditions with other consortia. B. Providers should not expect libraries to pay the entire cost of their research and development to bring new electronic products to market. These costs should be shared by the company shareholders and amortized by the provider so current prices for electronic information are sufficiently affordable to encourage experimentation and ultimately widespread use. This strategy will offer providers a better long-term revenue stream from which to recover their research and development costs. C. Libraries should have the option to purchase the electronic product without the paper subscription, and the electronic product should cost substantially less than the printed subscription price. See Section A. below for more detail. D. Bundling electronic and print subscriptions in non-flexible multi-year packages must not be the sole pricing option for purchasing electronic information. For example, licenses and purchase agreements for electronic journals, after the initial pricing year, cannot remain on an unchangeable fixed economic course." (paragraphs 12 - 16 of the URL)

This is a page of links to statements and documents issued from the IOCLC regarding electronic information. These statements span 1998 - present, and present a chronology of the evolution of issues surrounding electronic resources.

A recent study by Jason Price and John McDonald of Claremont Colleges investigates whether a research library could pursue "paperless acquisition" for newly published books. Price and McDonald compared purchases of print books made by 5 research libraries in 2006 and 2007 to the catalogs 4 of major aggregators of ebooks for libraries (EBrary, NetLibrary, EBookLibrary, and MyILibrary). They found that around 70% of the libraries' print acquisitions are not available through the leading ebook aggregators. According to their preliminary analysis, there is a mismatch between the content that some publishers (such as Routledge and Oxford UP) make available through ebook aggregators and what libraries purchase; also, some university presses do not yet appear to be making their publications available as ebooks. In some disciplines (art, music, romance literatures), over 80% of library purchases are not available electronically, while in other disciplines (economics) only 53% are not available as ebooks.

Rich presentations on ebooks and library collections. User studies, preservation, rights, future role of library, etc.

"E-books could transform teaching and study. Collections are growing steadily but no in-depth user studies have yet been carried out. Chris Armstrong, Ray Lonsdale and Dave Nicholas introduce the SuperBook Project that aims to put that right."

"Measuring the Impact of Networked Electronic Services (MINES) is an online, transaction-based survey that collects data on the purpose of use of electronic resources and the demographics of users. As libraries implement access to electronic resources through portals, collaborations, and consortial arrangements, the MINES for Libraries™ protocol offers a convenient way to collect information from users in an environment where they no longer need to physically enter the library in order to access resources."

References cited in C. Palmer, L. Teffeau and C. Pirmann, Disciplinary Research Practies and Library Services in the Online Environment (OCLC, 2009). This list excludes 21 resources (mostly conference proceedings, grant reports and older periodical literature) that could not be identified in WorldCat. Original bibliography includes 145 references in total.

The internet, cell phones, and other digital technologies have allowed people to have larger social networks, to participate in and learn from larger numbers of groups, to act in new ways to shape their world, and to gather, asses and act on information of all kinds from all kinds of "media." This marks a major shift in the social and civic lives of Americans that has big implications for libraries as they think about serving their communities. Lee will explore all these changes through the lens of the surveys and research of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.\n

significant growth in ebook sales

"Jason Price and John McDonald, from Claremont Colleges, have completed a study profiling various ebook aggregator collections to their print collection. Their goal, to find out if eBooks can supersede the print collection, or just supplement the collection. They presented this in Charleston last November, but have now finalized their stats and have posted the presentation and results. The study, To supersede or supplement: profiling aggregator e-book collections vs. our print collections, found that they cannot supersede the print collection with ebooks as 70% of their print collection is not available in ebook format. So, eBooks will have to supplement the collection."

Increased sales for ebooks a sign of emergence?

The programs at two recent conferences (the Charleston Conference and London Online) confirm that ebooks have established themselves in libraries. While the trade and consumer book markets still struggle to find an affordable and compelling ebook reader, library users have embraced the ebooks connected to the library e-collection and accessible via the PC or laptop they typically use.

Of course, the key questions are: What is the reality with respect to e-books? Does print really have an anticipated life span of five more years? Will e-books finally take off? After nearly two decades of talking about how e-books are right around the corner, have we finally reached the corner? This research bulletin looks at some of the hype and the reality of e-books in higher education.

This is the final report of the JISC EI-ASPM Project, which was commissioned by JISC to explore whether there are new opportunities and new models for scholarly publishing that would better serve researchers and better communicate and disseminate research findings." />www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/economicpublishingmodelsfinalreport.aspx